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Free Cities of Mars
The Free Cities of Mars are an Independent nation born from several national colonies founded in the mid-21st century. When Earth was devastated by the nuclear exchange of 2116 the national colonies on Mars were swamped with applications for immigration threatening to overwhelm their limited self sufficiency capabilities. In 2122 the six largest colonies on Mars signed the Articles of Unity declaring their independence from their founding nations. Only the Japanese and Commonwealth Martian Territories declined to sign the Articles, deciding to remain loyal to its Motherlands. Pre-Independence History Early Colonisation The first manned landing on Mars, the American Antares IV mission, landed on the 4th of July 2056 delivering a team of six scientists. Missions from China, Europe, India, Japan, Russia, and the United Commonwealth would follow over the next two decades. In 2067 the US founded it's first permanent settlement on Mars, Viking City, just a few kilometres from the landing site of that early probe. Again within a short time the other major space-faring nations followed suit and began building colonies. The first child to be conceived and born on Mars, Mira Jackson, arrived on the 7th of April 2085 at the US colony. The colonisation programme was supported by the Antwerp-class of Mars Cycling ships, large transports which constantly moved between Earth and Mars carrying colonists, spare parts, and other vital supplies. Eventually the various settlements began to become more and more self reliant. Hydroponic farms were built, useful metals were been mined and refined, and a complex transport infrastructure began to take shape. Trade between the national colonies began when the American colony used a surplus of wheat to produce whiskey which it traded with the Japanese colony for a surplus pressurised rover. Early Independence Movement At the dawn of the 22nd century humanity had been on Mars for over three decades. There were children on Mars who's parents had been born there and for whom Earth was simply a distance speck of light visible in the early hours of the day before the Sun rose. Most of the colonies lay within a few hours travel from one another thanks to a network of roads and for many colonists the neighbouring cities were more important than their respective "Motherlands". To The Brink of War For several months the Earth based governments attempted to negotiate with their former territories, on several occassions even threatening armed intervention. The Mars colonists however had managed to purchase a number of weapons on the black market and these were used to equip shuttles and torchships creating a sufficiently strong defence force to deter Earth from striking. Eventually the nations of Earth agreed to recognise Mars' independence in exchange for Mars acting as a waystation on the route to Genoa station then under construction around Europa The Accords The Cities Today International Relations The Cities closest allies are Japan and the United Commonwealth. As well as being the first two countries to recognise the Cities as an independent nation they remain heavily committed to the on-going terraforming programme. Between them Japan and the UC contribute 40% of the total costs of the project. Military One of the key articles of the Martian Accords was that the Free Cities would agree to limit their military to a purely defensive force. The defence of Mars would be partially guaranteed by the United Commonwealth which agreed to maintain a garrison on Mars. Today the Martian Defence Force (Marsa Defendo Forto) has only a small number of FTL-capable warships, primarily four Ridgeback-class frigates and a small number of corvettes, backed up by a large fighter force. The Forces eight fighter wings have between them four squadrons of Shrike fighters, two squadrons of Puma strike fighters, two squadrons of AT-17 Black Widow close support fighters and no fewer than twelve squadrons of Frank fighter bombers, half of which operate in the aerospace defence role. The Forto has no true land component, only the Aerospace Defence Branch (Aeroespacial Defendo Branĉo) which operates eighteen batteries of SA-72D exo-atmospheric ASAT missiles. Category:Colonies Category:Independent Colonies Category:Nations